The new flex lanes along I-96 between in Oakland County are open beginning Wednesday, part of an effort to ease congestion by opening more lanes during high-traffic times.
"A flex lane is using a shoulder as a drivable lane for a limited amount of time," said Diane Cross, a spokesperson for the Michigan Department of Transportation.
"It's different than, like, an HOV lane," Cross said, referring to high-occupancy vehicle lanes where users must have at least two people in the vehicle. "It can be any passenger type vehicle, a car or a pickup truck. You cannot use larger vehicles, tanker trucks, semis. They are not allowed to use this particular lane."
Flex routes make use of the current road infrastructure to address congestion "at a much lower cost than building new lanes and shoulders," the state transportation department said in a news release.
Green arrows on electronic signs over the left shoulders indicate when the flex lanes are open, and "a red X indicates the flex lane is not open and driving in it would be illegal," the department said.
The new lanes run between Kent Lake Road and the I-275/I-696/M-5 interchange.
The first flex lanes in Michigan were built on U.S. Route 23 in Washtenaw and Livingston counties. Flex lanes are monitored by the Michigan Department of Transportation and Michigan State Police.
Cross said the state has an array of ways to keep the new lanes safe.
"We have close to 200 electronic devices, cameras, speed signs, electronic message boards telling drivers what to do, and then the little electronic signs that have the red X or the green arrow, and all of those are connected and they talk with our operations center that watches to make sure that lane is clear," said Cross.
In addition to indicating when the flex lanes are open, the signs also allow Transportation Operations Center operators to direct traffic around incidents blocking a lane, and they can display suggested speeds when there is a slowdown or traffic incident.
The eastbound I-96 flex lane will generally be open 6 to 9 a.m. and the westbound lane from 3:30 to 6 p.m. weekdays.
